Stanford’s 113th Big Game Week will be celebrated with festivities beginning on Monday and lasting until the annual rivalry game against UC-Berkeley on Saturday.
The first Big Game in 1892 resulted in a 14-10 victory for Stanford, and ever since, the annual game has been the cause of a week’s worth of entertainment. Big Game Week staple Gaieties, this year entitled “The Last Temptation of Cal,” will be performed in Memorial Auditorium Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m. and will be accented by many other events throughout the week.
The Axe Committee will begin a 113-hour countdown leading up to the game on Monday at 7 p.m. and will hang the “Beat Cal” banner from Meyer Library as well, according to committee chairman Jake Smith ’12.
The marquee event of Big Game Week 2010 is the DJ competition and Steve Aoki and Kid Sister concert on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Arrillaga Alumni Center. Aoki graduated from UC-Santa Barbara and has established his own record company, Dim Mak, along with a clothing line. Aoki’s fellow headliner, Kid Sister, is a female rapper from Chicago.
“Steve Aoki is a popular party DJ,” said Kevin Chow ’13, the publicity director of the Stanford Concert Network (SCN), which is putting on the event. “He is known for having exciting shows where he crowd-surfs and sprays beverages on the audience.”
SCN contacted Aoki’s agent, who informed them Aoki was on a college tour and would be available to perform at Stanford during Big Game Week along with Kid Sister. The SCN core came up with the idea of adding a campus-wide guest DJ contest.
“Originally we wanted to do a live DJ competition, but the idea was last minute, and we made a Web page instead,” Chow said.
For the competition, six DJs uploaded their mixes to the concert website and allowed students to select their favorite one. The DJs garnered sufficient buzz, and as of Friday had received more than 1,000 votes and 4,500 plays of the six mixes, Chow said. The winner will be announced during the show on Tuesday, he said.
Also on Tuesday is the “Rivals for Life” blood drive, themed “There Will Be Blood.” It will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Arrillaga Sports Center. Both the Stanford and Cal blood banks will host a competition to determine which school can donate the most blood to the UC-San Francisco blood bank. A bone marrow typing drive sponsored by Lambda Phi Epsilon will also take place on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in White Plaza.
Stanford student organizations face off in the name of school rivalry as well. Big Sing pits Stanford a capella groups against groups from Cal and will take place Tuesday at 8 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall on the Berkeley campus. The staff of The Daily is set to battle the staff of The Daily Californian in a flag football showdown, Ink Bowl, at the UC-Berkeley campus on the day of Big Game.
Fan Central events for the freshman and junior classes are scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 12 p.m. in White Plaza. The sophomore and senior classes are scheduled to gather for Fan Central on Thursday at the same time and location.
The Big Game rally will occur on Thursday night at 10 p.m. in Old Union courtyard and will bring the football players out for recognition by their peers, Smith said. This, aside from the last showing of Gaieties on Friday night at 8 p.m., will close the week’s events and prepare the student body for the main event at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
According to ASSU Senate Chair Michael Cruz ’12, the ASSU and Axe Committee will cosponsor highly subsidized bus tickets to Memorial Stadium. The Senate is also planning a viewing party for students who will not secure nine Red Zone Points before the game.